Community Stories — Real Black Experiences With Law Enforcement

On February 8, 2020, Valdosta police encountered Antonio Arnelo Smith while officers were investigating a report about someone asking customers for money outside a drug store.

Body-camera footage shows Smith handing an officer his driver's license and answering questions. A second officer then approached him from behind, grabbed him and forced him to the ground.

Smith immediately cried out that his wrist was broken. Officers then told him there was a warrant for his arrest. The first officer corrected them: the warrant belonged to another man nearby.

Smith was released without charges. He later filed a federal civil-rights lawsuit alleging excessive force and other violations.

On October 13, 2014, Tyrone Carnegay was shopping at a downtown Atlanta Walmart. After purchasing groceries, he returned to weigh a tomato because he believed he had been charged incorrectly.

Atlanta Police Sergeant Trevor King suspected Carnegay of stealing the tomato and stopped him near the exit.

Federal prosecutors said King struck Carnegay repeatedly with a metal baton. One of the blows caused a compound fracture to Carnegay's leg.

Afterward, King found Carnegay's receipt showing that the groceries, including the tomato, had been purchased. Carnegay was nevertheless charged and jailed. Those charges were later dismissed.

A federal jury later convicted King of using excessive force and obstructing the investigation by writing a false report. King was sentenced to five years in federal prison.

John Pope was 14 when Minneapolis police officers responded to his home in 2017.

Body-camera footage later released publicly showed former officer Derek Chauvin striking Pope in the head with a flashlight and restraining him for approximately 15 minutes.

Pope said he wanted the footage released because video allowed people to see what happened rather than relying only on words describing it.

Chauvin later pleaded guilty in federal court to violating Pope's civil rights. Minneapolis also reached a $7.5 million settlement with Pope.

On February 21, 2019, Chicago police officers executed a search warrant at the home of social worker Anjanette Young.

They had the wrong home.

Young had been changing clothes when officers entered. Body-camera footage showed her unclothed and handcuffed while repeatedly telling officers they were in the wrong place.

Reporting later showed the person police were seeking lived at a different address. The case generated national attention after body-camera footage became public.

Chicago ultimately agreed to pay Young $2.9 million to resolve her case.

Aurora police were responding to a report that a man had pointed a gun at a child. According to the ACLU, officers had no description of the suspect.

Officers stopped Darsean Kelley and another Black man who were walking nearby. Kelley raised his hands and followed commands while repeatedly asking why he was being detained.

Body-camera video captured Kelley saying, “I know my rights.” An officer then fired a Taser into his back. Kelley fell backward and struck his head on the pavement.

Kelley was charged with disorderly conduct, but prosecutors later dropped the charge. Aurora subsequently paid $110,000 to settle his claims.

Floyd Dent was pulled over in Inkster, Michigan in January 2015.

Dashboard-camera footage showed officer William Melendez repeatedly punching Dent in the head during the arrest.

Dent later testified that he was also choked and had difficulty breathing. The incident was not widely known until local television station WDIV aired the video.

Inkster agreed to pay Dent $1.37 million to settle his excessive-force lawsuit.

Clarence Crawford filed a federal civil-rights lawsuit over a January 2020 traffic stop in New Braunfels, Texas.

Crawford alleged that he was wrongfully stopped, pulled from his vehicle, tased and charged after protesting the stop.

Police body-camera footage documented the encounter.

New Braunfels ultimately agreed to pay Crawford $175,000 to resolve the lawsuit. The city did not admit liability as part of the settlement.